


Atishoo, atishoo

by MagicaDraconia16



Series: 2021 Bingos [5]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Body Modification, Flu, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Regeneration, Sickfic, Sort Of, Time Lord illness, of the Time Lord variety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29676849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicaDraconia16/pseuds/MagicaDraconia16
Summary: Rose discovers the Doctor has the flu - the Time Lord Flu!
Relationships: Ninth Doctor & Rose Tyler
Series: 2021 Bingos [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119095
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Sixteen, Tropes and Fandoms 2021





	Atishoo, atishoo

**Author's Note:**

> Written for:  
>  **Tropes And Fandoms 21:** _Hurt/Comfort_  
>  and **Trope Bingo Round 16:** _G4 - Transformations_

“God, you look awful!”

The Doctor glanced over at where Rose was standing in the doorway to the control room. “Oh, charming! Thanks for that,” he tried to say, but was overwhelmed by three huge sneezes that nearly knocked him off his feet.

“Are you alright, Doctor?” Rose asked, taking a step towards him. He sneezed a fourth time, and she hurriedly retreated again, grimacing. “Not contagious, are you?”

“Nah,” the Doctor assured her, although the nasally tone his voice had taken on wasn’t very reassuring. “’s just a bit of Time Lord Flu, that’s all. No-one can get it but Time Lords and, well, there’s only me here.”

Rose cautiously advanced again. “So… how does Time Lord flu differ from the usual kind that us humans get?” she wondered.

The Doctor gave a huge sniff and then wiggled his nose as it itched. “It doesn’t, really,” he began. “There’s just—” The tickle in his nose sharpened, and he blinked as his eyes prickled. “Just—” No, it was no good. He was going to—“ _Awhooshuu_!” he sneezed, and this time his entire body tingled, as the golden energy of the Time Vortex rushed through him.

“What the—?! Oh, my _God_!” Rose exclaimed, jumping back in surprise. She blinked at the Doctor, mouth opening and closing as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. “Doctor…?” she asked, tentatively.

The Doctor lifted his hands to examine them. They were different than he was expecting; smaller, slender and, even with bitten-down nails, obviously more feminine. “Oh, fantastic!” he enthused. He twisted his hands, examining both sides of them more closely, and then glanced down at his entire body.

His now _female_ body.

“ _Fantastic_!” he said again, looking up to beam at Rose. “Definitely looking forward to _this_ one!”

“Doctor, what…?” Rose’s mouth worked again as she squinted at the Doctor. “Are you—”

“The Time Lord Flu,” he informed her. “Only difference from the bog-standard flu you humans get is that energy from the Time Vortex goes through us, and we end up as our various incarnations for a bit. This one’s a future one, I think. Haven’t been a woman yet, as far as I know.”

“But you’re still… you, right?” Rose reached out and deliberately, but gingerly, poked him in the shoulder.

The Doctor smiled at her. The fact that he could – and, at some point, _would_ – regenerate hadn’t come up between them yet. So far, Rose seemed to be accepting his transformation quite well. “’Course I am,” he assured her. “Even when I look different on the outside, it’s still me.”

“Hmm.” Rose began circling him, studying him carefully. It gave the Doctor a jolt when he realised that he was actually the same height as her now; his future incarnation was a couple of inches shorter than he was. “It’s so… weird,” Rose mused. “Does this kinda thing happen often?”

“Nah, Time Lord Flu season’s only once a century,” he replied. “Just a bit early this time; last time I had it was only thirty years ago.” The familiar tingle started up in his nose again. “Might want… wanna step back,” he warned Rose. Even if she couldn’t catch it, he still didn’t think she’d appreciate him sneezing on her. “Ah… ah…” Rose hastily skipped backwards out of range. “ _Achsooo!_ ”

When the tingle of golden energy subsided this time, Rose was grinning at him. He gave a quick glance downwards. Back to his usual self then. Ah well.

“Come on,” said Rose, gesturing at the door to the rest of the TARDIS. “Better get you tucked up in bed and I’ll see if I can find some chicken soup. If you’re _really_ good, I’ll even read you a bedtime story.”

The Doctor muffled another sneeze in his elbow as he followed her. He briefly debated telling Rose that her human remedies probably wouldn’t work but decided to just let her run with it.

After all, it wasn’t as if she could make it _worse_.


End file.
